


that's me in the corner

by Elsinore_and_Inverness



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Book: Moving Pictures, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elsinore_and_Inverness/pseuds/Elsinore_and_Inverness
Summary: “They’ve managed to put a puncture wound in reality again, haven’t they?”
Relationships: Rufus Drumknott & Havelock Vetinari
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	that's me in the corner

It was fairly difficult to determine if the Patrician had been frightened. This had less to do with how he expressed distress—typically either a rant engineered on the fly to instill disquieting uncertainty in others and amusement in himself, or decisions made to make other people distressed—and much more to do with the high frequency background of fear that came with the position.

As the wizards were chasing things from the Dungeon Dimensions and reality was being warped around the university, Rufus Drumknott was taking the Patrician’s cloak and then handing it back to him as he waved for it to be returned to him.

“How was the Click, my Lord?” Rufus asked. It was still early days in his position as secretary, and while they had fallen into a rhythm, he was endeavoring to remain open to that rhythm being subject to change.

Vetinari shrugged the cloak back over his shoulders again. “You know certain foods that are all texture and no flavor?”

“I believe I have read novels like that.”

“No, I’m not talking about the drama. They had corn kernels that had been heated to burst the pericarp. It is evidently the done thing to eat them while watching a moving picture.”

“They’ve managed to put a puncture wound in reality again, haven’t they?”

Lord Vetinari nodded and there was a slightly shuddering quality to his next exhale. “I would be the first to admit that there are areas I do not understand, which is saying something, since I am a politician and must be extremely quick on the draw to be the first to admit anything to my own depreciation.”

“I’m making a pot of tea.”

“I’m going to have to pass a law forbidding it,” Vetinari said, addressing the nearest wall. “These Clicks have gotten people hurt. Mostly picture imps, I am given to understand. Their efforts at organizing had been overcome by the magic of Holy Wood. The performers, too, were in a bad way. Called stars because they seem cool and twinkling and mysterious from far away. They weren’t throwing the switch themselves. Many actors are able to choose to present themselves as dazzling. To send electricity across the atmosphere of the room. This came from the outside. Like possession. Spellbinding without magic, without, in fact, a great deal of actual talent.”

Vetinari had pulled the hood of the cloak over his head. Drumknott’s eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter. Tea wasn’t going to be enough. What else was there? He could hardly say “why don’t you have a piece of bread and maybe you’ll calm down” or put a sonata-fugue-tone-poem on his desk. He was actually considering handing over the bottle of candy floss scented bubble bath that had been regifted among the clerks so many times that it had passed through the same hands multiple times. He just had be sure it would not be taken a judgment on either Vetinari’s agitation or the harshness of the wood ash lye soap he used.

“It is getting late,” Drumknott said. “I suspect this is one of those occasions where ‘it will look clearer in the morning’ may actually manage to hold true.”

“Interdimensional Things at night, the sensible take flight.”

“I have not heard that one, my Lord.”

The Patrician closed his eyes “I wish I did not feel this way.”

The phrasing could have referred to holding a point of view or opinion, but Drumknott knew he was referring to his emotional state and did not press for elaboration. 


End file.
